NT Police called to set up station in Malak, Karama

Police wait times spark calls for new station. ‘If it takes them 40 minutes to get down the road … what hope do I have?’

RESIDENTS in a crime “hot spot” are calling for a police station to tackle rising incidents and lengthy police wait times.

City of Darwin councillor Brian O’Gallagher said the residents of Waters Ward needed a permanent police presence.

Cr O’Gallagher started a petition calling for a station to be established at either Karama or Malak.

He said an increase in crime over the past five years meant families and businesses were suffering.

Cr O’Gallagher has pushed for a mobile unit police caravan and permanent patrols as an initial escalation of force around the shopping centres, to be solidified by a station down the line.

Despite two northern suburbs police stations within 15 minutes of Karama, Cr O’Gallagher was adamant the proposed stations would not become “another Nightcliff”.

NT Police Commander Danny Bacon said officers needed an “agile” approach to address crime trends, deploying patrols according to need.

“Crime hot spots are changeable and have many contributing factors including seasonal changes, family issues, alcohol abuse, school holidays and population movement,” he said.

A Malak mother, who does not wish to be named, described a terrifying 40-minute wait after calling triple-0 in April.

In her first call to police, the Malak resident said she reported the yelling, the crash of items and the shattering of glass.

Fifteen minutes later she made a second call. Things got worse.

Now the neighbouring children were sheltering from the violence in the bushes.

She said it took 40 minutes for a patrol car to arrive.

Traumatic nights like these have become a horrific everyday reality for the Malak mother, leading her to back calls for a new police station in the crime “hot spot”.

She said there were at least two domestic violence incidents a week and the crime was spilling into her property.

She said criminals had scaled the six-foot fence at her home six times since October.

“They’re coming into your home, it puts you on edge. you can’t sleep,” she said.

“You don’t feel safe walking around.

“If it takes them 40 minutes to get down the road with a child in a domestic violence situation, what hope do I have?

“We’ve had stabbings, shootings, murders. The response time is too long.

“The break-ins are an invasion, but it’s not as troubling as having to put my children through this.”

The resident said the scale of crime and the wait times for police meant many residents were losing faith.

“It’s getting to the stage where people aren’t reporting it to police. They’ve given up,” she said.

Ngaree Ah Kit. Picture: Katrina Bridgeford.

Karama MLA Ngaree Ah Kit said she had raised the petition with Police Minister Nicole Manison “and will continue to support the establishment of police presence”.

But Ms Manison’s office said addressing crime was a complex issue.

Ms Manison said a record $510m injection into NT Police, Fire and Emergency Services in the latest budget meant “we have more boots on the ground than ever before, new stations and more CCTV across the Territory, including Karama”.